Several senior Brahmas were pulled from two of their periods on Valentine’s Day last week to take an unfamiliar standardized assessment.

While the National Assessment of Educational Progress has not been administered on Diamond Bar High School  campus in recent years, this is not a new exam.

It is given arbitrarily to public schools across the nation each year to students in grades four, eight and 12.

Results on the NAEP are then collectivized into anonymous data for the U.S. Department of Education.

“I’ve heard in the past that we’ve gone three years in a row and given it and I’ve heard in the past that we’ve gone a number of years without giving it, but this year we happened to be chosen to administer it,” DBHS Instructional Dean Matthew Brummett said.

Fifty seniors were selected at random by the NAEP administrators to be tested for  competence in reading, mathematics and science. Each student was assessed for only one section.

Administered by the National Center for Education Statistics, the test was held in the LINC in  two-hour sessions. Students were fed complimentary breakfast or lunch depending on which session they attended.

These statistics will be used to reflect the performance levels of different demographics of students throughout the nation as a whole, and will not count for individual or school-wide evaluations, though schools do receive a copy of their scores.

The non-systemic irregularity of its administration each year contributes to a more accurate analysis of student progress over time.

“It’s completely anonymous as far as no names published anywhere,” Brummett said. “It’s relatively painless for the student because there’s not that typical pressure for individual performance because their name isn’t used.”